Reframing Media/Cultural Studies in the Age of Global Crisis
Univ of Westminster, Communication and Media Research Institute
19-20 June 2015
Call
Conference organised by the Communication and Media Research Institute,
CAMRI, University of Westminster in association with Fluminense Federal
University, Brazil
In an age of ongoing global protest, an economy in crisis and systems of
governance and democracy in question, a re-assessment of the disciplines
of media and cultural studies is called for. Traditional paradigms for
conceptualizing the media are further challenged by shifts in the media
environment resulting from the growth of digital and mobile media. This
is a defining moment for the field and a time for reflection and
re-evaluation.
The production of academic knowledge and the development of fields of
enquiry into the media, culture and society have always been linked to
both intellectual formations within the academe and historical events
taking place outside it. Critical theory and much later cultural studies
and media studies were not only a reaction to the pathologies of modern
times, but played an active role in naming and identifying them, thus
serving as the harbingers of changing times. Conceptual and
methodological frameworks used within these disciplines have also
changed through time as international scholars attempted to grasp
broader shifts in historical, cultural and social processes, showing
that the analysis of media in different parts of the world may require
different frameworks.
This conference thus invites us to reframe and rethink media/cultural
studies in light of recent waves of global crises and new media
developments. As such, it offers a space that transcends false binaries
– between cultural studies and political economy, or new and old media,
or global north and south – allowing us to reflect on the concepts and
methods that can help us address the important issues of our time.
Some of the questions we will be considering include:
What are the questions that media studies and cultural studies should be
asking to respond to a world in crisis?
What are the new concepts, theories and methodologies emerging from the
field’s response to current challenges?
How have global protests and people’s everyday responses to a world in
crisis challenged current theories and methodologies in media and
cultural studies?
How have changes in media technologies altered the questions that media
and cultural studies scholars are asking or the methodologies that they
use? What is it that remains the same?
How are developments in media/cultural research and theorizing around
the world enriching and challenging the field?
The conference will be organized around 4 key themes, each headed by a
plenary discussion:
Panel 1: Reframing Media Studies/Cultural Studies in the Age of Global
Crisis: What are the questions?
Plenary Discussion 1:
Paddy Scannell, Dave Morley, Annabelle Sreberny, David Gauntlett
Panel 2: Global Crisis and Media Theory
Plenary Discussion 2:
Paolo Gerbaudo, Anastasia Kavada, Jeremy Gilbert, Colin Sparks
Panel 3: Rethinking Internationalizing Media Studies/Cultural Studies
Plenary Discussion 3:
Daya Thussu, Fernando Resende, Jaeho Kang, Tarik Sabry
Panel 4: New/Old Theory in Media Studies/Cultural Studies
Plenary Discussion 4:
Joanna Zylinska, Christian Fuchs and Kaarle Nordenstreng
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS
The deadline for submission of abstracts is 12 February 2015. Successful
applicants will be notified within 1 month. Abstracts should not be more
than 250 words long summarizing your contribution to the conference and
a short biography. They must include the title of the conference,
presenter’s name, affiliation, email and postal address, together with
the title of the paper. Please ensure when saving your abstract that
your name is part of the file name and it is a word document. Please
email your abstract to Helen Cohen, Events Administrator at:
(journalism@westminster.ac.uk)
Mark Carrigan 